Typical computer users are not proficient with “touch typing,” which comprises typing without using the sense of sight to identify and find the keys on a keyboard. The most commonly used form of typing is “hunt and peck” typing (e.g., two-fingered typing). This method is slower than touch typing because instead of relying on the memorized position of keys on a keyboard, the typist is required to find each key by sight and move their fingers a greater distance.
Many computer users are eventually capable of obtaining fast typing speeds on a keyboard using hunt and peck type typing, without ever learning touch typing. One issue with hunt and peck typing is that it is not standard. For example, each user has their own idiosyncratic hunt and peck typing style that may involve the use of two or more fingers on one or both hands. Unfortunately, keyboards and associated touchpads, which have become ubiquitous, especially in virtually all laptops and on some stand-alone keyboards, are not designed with such non-standard users in mind.
A typical user, who has never taken a typing class, develops their own typing habits. Standard typing on a full QWERTY keyboard divides keys evenly between the right and left hands of the person typing. This ensures that the right hand interacts with the keys on the right half of the keyboard and the left hand interacts with the keys on the left half of the keyboard. This results in the hands never crossing over to the opposite, wrong side of the keyboard. Users who learn typing by developing their own method tend to favor using one hand over the other and do not isolate that hand to its “own half” of the keyboard. This creates an issue with keyboards that have a touchpad in or below the lower section of the keyboard.
One issue caused by the “crossing over” of hands occurs when the thumb or palm of the hand that is positioned on the wrong side of the keyboard accidently touches the touchpad. Such an accidental touch may cause the mouse cursor to be relocated to a new position on the screen, based on the location of where the mouse pointer was situated on the screen when the accidental touch occurred. This can result in issues ranging from typing in a document at the wrong location to inputting data in the wrong field in an application or form. To address this issue, some users have resorted to deactivating the touchpad on their laptops and using an external mouse.